I thought cathedral ceilings in my home would be cool, until it came time to heat and cool those 16' ceilings. I can see very little advantage other than head room and a bit of overhead storage to have to go that high. Here's one of those time where being short is an advantage.

Each Individual has their own reasons for going "high", I'll try to explain mine.

It really boils down to form following function. As I have pointed out a couple of times on this forum, Angie and I plan to live full time in our bus when we retire in 5 years. For the first few years at least we plan to be off-grid as much as possible on public lands. The biggest limitation as to how long you can stay in the boonies by far is water ( especially when the occasional shower is part of the grand bargain with your bride ). To that end I plan on around 240-250 gallons of water storage. That means up to a ton of weight, and I just don't feel comfortable suspending that kind of weight under the bus. From about eight feet from the back of the driver seat to the the back of the bus I will be building a 12" high false floor that will allow me to put 3 80 gallon water tanks inside centered on top of the frame. The rest of the space underneath will used for batteries, plumbing, electrical paths, and storage via trap doors. The front 8 feet will be a sunken living room with a full 8 ft plus ceiling. The final lift size was limited by the 60" limit of 5x10 sheet stock. 1/2" above and below the rivet lines gave me 27". With the false floor my effective raise inside is 15" for most of the floor space.

Doing this also gives me room under the bus for long term storage items, as well as room for a slide out work bench and tools for my various hobbies, as well of course for a sizable grey tank.

As EastCoastCB pointed out, it isn't all roses. There is no doubt going to be limitations as to where I can go, but with diligent planning and scouting we'll find plenty of options.

Each Individual has their own reasons for going "high", I'll try to explain mine.

It really boils down to form following function. As I have pointed out a couple of times on this forum, Angie and I plan to live full time in our bus when we retire in 5 years. For the first few years at least we plan to be off-grid as much as possible on public lands. The biggest limitation as to how long you can stay in the boonies by far is water ( especially when the occasional shower is part of the grand bargain with your bride ). To that end I plan on around 240-250 gallons of water storage. That means up to a ton of weight, and I just don't feel comfortable suspending that kind of weight under the bus. From about eight feet from the back of the driver seat to the the back of the bus I will be building a 12" high false floor that will allow me to put 3 80 gallon water tanks inside centered on top of the frame. The rest of the space underneath will used for batteries, plumbing, electrical paths, and storage via trap doors. The front 8 feet will be a sunken living room with a full 8 ft plus ceiling. The final lift size was limited by the 60" limit of 5x10 sheet stock. 1/2" above and below the rivet lines gave me 27". With the false floor my effective raise inside is 15" for most of the floor space.

Doing this also gives me room under the bus for long term storage items, as well as room for a slide out work bench and tools for my various hobbies, as well of course for a sizable grey tank.

As EastCoastCB pointed out, it isn't all roses. There is no doubt going to be limitations as to where I can go, but with diligent planning and scouting we'll find plenty of options.

Anyhoo, thats how I ended up with a 12 foot plus bus.

Casey

Thank you Casey,

That makes sense to me.

Where are you located? I am in Dayton. If you are not too far away, I would love to come and see your bus.